Abortion Term Paper

Abortion is a topic that is steeped in controversy in the United States and throughout the world. It is one that will not be easily resolved and one in which the basis for the two-sided argument, those for or against, lies solely in matters of opinion. While some claim a religious foundation as the basis for their position one has to remember that in a country in which church and state are separated, religious views should have as much clout as opinion.
To understand the conflict behind the abortion debate it is important to understand the birth of the abortion law. Abortions were illegal in the United States until nineteen seventy-three. It was during this time that United Sates Supreme Court heard the case of Roe v. Wade. The case was between the defendant, whose real name was Norma McCorvey but went under the anonymous name of Jane Roe for privacy reasons, and Henry Wade who was prosecutor in the state of Texas (Hadley p.2). Before nineteen seventy- three it was illegal to perform an abortion in the state of Texas unless the mothers life was in danger. This was the case brought before the Supreme Court, a single mother of two fighting the criminal implications of having a third unborn child aborted (Dworkin p7).

Another pro-choice group is the religion based Catholics For a Free Choice. According to the information form their Internet site www.Cath4choice.org/indexenflash.htm they place the woman over the rights of the fetus. They do so in the belief that the Catholic Church does not provide a clear interpretation of when life begins. Because of this fact they believe that it is up the conscience of the individual Catholic to decide.

I feel that abortion should and always remain a right that women have. I believe strongly in the interpretation that abortion falls under the right of privacy. No governing body or person should be able to tell someone what he or she can and cannot do to his or her own body. In the end that’s exactly what it is, your body. No one has to live with the consequences of your actions to your own body except yourself. Some might say that the unborn child has a right for life. In my opinion it should be left up to the moral feelings of the individual.

The liberal restriction on abortion in New York State cannot be appreciated until compared to the abortion restrictions in other States. According to the National Abortion Rights Action League, at their Internet site www.NARAL.org/ Mississippi for example has a completely opposite policy to that of New York’s. They have yet to repeal unconstitutional (and therefore unenforceable) pre-Roe v. Wade laws which put an out right ban on abortion. In Mississippi a minor may not have an abortion without parental consent or a court order saying that she is competent and mature enough to make such a decision. Also there is a twenty-four hour waiting period that a woman must wait. There are few places even to obtain an abortion with ninety-six percent of Mississippi counties having no abortion provider.

It is amazing that States such as Mississippi can offer so few locations when there are such a large number of women obtaining abortions every year. The following information was obtained from the Alan Guttmacher Institute by way of their Internet site www.agi-usa.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.htlm. From nineteen seventy- three to nineteen ninety-seven thirty five million legal abortions have occurred. Thirty five million over a span of twenty-four years averages out to around 1.46 million abortions yearly. Of this number it is surprising to see that teenagers only make up twenty percent of the yearly abortions. With fifty-two percent of the women being twenty- five years old or younger. Of all the women who have abortions per year, about thirteen thousand have an abortion due to the fact that they were rapped or a victim of incest, and two thirds of abortions are among women who have never been married. What is even more amazing is that the number of abortions per year has, for the most part, not flocculated since before they became legal in nineteen seventy-three. The only thing that has changed with the legality of abortion is that these women went from being considered criminals with a death rate of between one and five thousa